


The Persistence of Women

by Merfilly



Series: Jedi Asajj [13]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: Jedi Apprentice Series - Jude Watson & Dave Wolverton, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Background Relationships, Gen, Minor Character Death, other non-speaking cast
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-30
Updated: 2016-10-30
Packaged: 2018-08-27 21:44:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8417989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: Revealed is the Sith, made are the plans. Let it stand as a lesson that attacking the child is a powerful way to bring the adult to full temper.





	

The quiet surrounding them made it too obvious when Ahsoka's breathing hitched and a faint whistle escaped her. Asajj lifted her head from the bedside immediately, rising from the chair to bring her hand alongside her padawan's cheek in gentle reassurance.

The girl had been removed from the bacta less than an hour before, when she had begun fighting the sedation. Asajj had done all she could to force her student under, but Ahsoka's will was a mighty thing. Normally, this served to fuel Asajj's pride.

Currently, it was a source of frustration.

"Don't talk, Ahsoka. Your lung was badly damaged, and the repairs are still fragile," Asajj said, keeping her voice low in deference to being so close to the girl's growing montrals. "We have you on a fluid bed, but if your rear lek is hurting badly, I can get you moved to a flotation tank."

Ahsoka's eyes fluttered open, and Asajj finally felt the flickering connection between them solidify into a near-stranglehold of clinging need. She breathed slowly in a purposeful pattern, one that was more shallow than usual, and felt relief as Ahsoka mimicked her due to training.

Then Ahsoka was shoving images into her mind, and it was all Asajj could do to keep her emotions from betraying the new knowledge to the entire Temple and beyond. The Sith was not their initial suspect, apparently, but the one they thought was being manipulated.

That would change the fight slightly, but not enough for the Sith to actually escape.

+++

"It's not Mas Amedda," Saesee Tiin told his strike force, and the senators that had been able to be brought in discreetly by the tunnels. "Senator Amidala, Palpatine is not the puppet, so much as the puppeteer," he added, his voice apologetic to the senator of that system.

"We had considered the possibility, when we relayed the details to you, Mater Jedi," she said without betraying a single emotion on her immaculately white-painted face. "It saddens us to know this, but we remain committed to seeing an end to tyranny and war-mongering."

"How do you know for certain which it is?" Bail Organa pressed. "I just wish to have a clear conscience when I begin prosecution movements."

"My padawan fought off all attempts at sedation and Force manipulation to be able to show me what she saw in her escape from the assassin," Asajj said. "The assassin was in communication with the cloaked figure we have come to recognize as Darth Sidious. However, she could also hear his voice clearly… and she has been sitting in the Senate these last few weeks. A Togruta, once their montrals begin to grow, possesses an uncanny sense of hearing that paltry theatrical tricks cannot actually fool. His voice made a pattern match in her head, leading to her accidentally revealing her location.

"It was after that when the assassin went after her, with the Sith explicitly stating that the Jedi padawan be killed… despite the fact that Ahsoka has not been wearing her beads or lightsabers openly," Asajj finished. 

"No, but she has met the Chancellor more than once, given events at Geonosis, and that crisis in the Senate last year," Padmé said coolly. 

"The assassin, when confronted with the knowledge confirmed the information," Mace Windu said. "She had been working directly for him since just before the larger Zabrak warrior showed up, and seemed to believe she was to be his new apprentice, with the Zabrak a visible distraction."

"Your Jedi team will be on hand when I bring a motion?" Bail questioned, convinced.

"Of this, you may be certain," Yoda told the senior-most senator in their midst.

"Then may the Force keep us all safe until morning," Bail said, as he began formulating his words for the morning.

+++

Bail didn't actually mind that he hadn't gotten to deliver his speech. He worked hard to help sort the truly wounded from the merely injured, in the aftermath of the battle that had erupted between the Jedi, the Coruscant Guard, the Senatorial Guard, and one enraged Sith Lord trying to murder the entire Senate.

There would be no trial. 

There would be many funerals.

He looked over to see Naboo had pulled their entire staff in to help with succor for those that would survive this day. Ryloth… his purported aides were helping, and ignoring the body of the man that had always set Bail's nerves on edge. 

"How did he know?" the young Senator from Pantora asked, her face streaked with many colors of blood, as she worked tirelessly alongside them, despite her small frame.

"Looked in the Force, he did," the small, ancient Jedi Master near them said, using the Force even now to move people to better staging areas for aid.

No, Bail would never mind failing to deliver the speech. Such vileness as the man proved to be had found his deserved fate.

He remembered how the male Jedi present had approached as if to take the fight, before concentrating on throwing the blaster-wielding Guards of both varieties against walls to knock them out and save as many lives as they could.

The Sith had tried to attack Master Windu then, as he was at the apex of their formation. 

A thrown lightsaber had removed one hand, the first sign that the women of the Jedi were there to fight. Asajj Ventress had led that charge, flanked by Aayla Secura and Shaak Ti, Bail recalled. Luminara and Barriss Offee had come at the Sith from the rear, creating a five-strong star of driven determination to contend with the Sith Lord.

He'd lost track of the fight after that, trying to help with the chaos of his peers but the explosive force of the Sith Lord's death had made all of them notice, given that it had bowled over several Senatorial disks.

He wondered how many of the women had paid the final price, even as he was mentally tallying the Senatorial one.

+++

Ahsoka slowly roused to the sounds of persistent medical machinery. It was reminder enough to actually breathe carefully, but then she realized how quiet her mind was. Panic hit her, and she was pushing to sit up before anyone could see it, ignoring the fire-hot pain that erupted in her chest cavity.

"Padawan! Lie back down!" Vokara Che snapped, but Ahsoka was not paying her a bit of attention, seeing her master on the bed next to hers, the machinery monitoring her. Ignoring Vokara moving to restrain her, the Togruta struggled to get out of her bed, to get to her master, ignoring how scant her air supply was getting.

"For Force sake!" Krieth Nimpur said fiercely, before applying her telekinetic skills to the issue at hand, lifting Ahsoka and then moving the original bed to be side by side with Asajj's. Vokara relaxed as her assistant came up with the best solution, and then moved to stabilize Ahsoka once the Togruta was deposited gently on the bed again.

"That was a completely unnecessary stunt, Padawan Tano, but I do understand how disconcerting it must be with your master unconscious. You should emulate her, and stop fighting the sleep!" Vokara scolded. She said nothing of the fact Ahsoka moved until her hand was touching Asajj, fingers seeking a pulse. The girl was still young enough to be indulged at this point, and there would be time for lectures on attachment later. 

"Please, rest," Krieth told the girl. "You've damaged the repairs to your lung, and it would be nice to operate without you fighting off the anesthesia this time."

Having found Asajj's pulse, Ahsoka let her eyes close; she would find out more later. For now, all that mattered was knowing her master was alive.

+++

Tahl waited until all four men had tuned in, indicated by the chimes on her comm suite. 

"Darth Sidious is dead," she said. "So is Master Tiin, and it is not certain if Aayla Secura will make a full recovery. Master Tiin used his mental gifts to blunt and outright stop the mind-control on the two Guard forces, but we believe it turned into a contest of wills that killed him, given that no wound was found on his body," she said. "Aayla took the full brunt of a Force Lightning attack without her lightsaber to guard, as she was disarmed and chose to protect a Senator that was the original target."

She wasn't about to say it had been the Naboo Senator, given that Anakin, for all he was a brilliant young Knight, could still have Jinn-level emotionally charged moments.

"Anyone else hurt?" Qui-Gon asked aloud, even though he was fairly certain he knew, given how Ky was handling this entire communication.

"Asajj took a variety of wounds, and is the next most severe case in the Healing Hall at this time, but she has been conscious and fussed, because they let Ahsoka's bed be moved closer. I got the impression both master and padawan keep trying to heal each other, instead of focusing on their own wounds," Tahl said with amusement. "The rest of the strike force came through with minor injuries, but the Senate will be a long time rebuilding and recovering."

"So now, we just try to end these petty conflicts, and bring the men safely home," Obi-Wan said, even as relief swept through him. He met Ky's gaze in the holo conference, and saw it mirrored more openly there.

"At least we have a chance for peace, now," Tahl said softly before ending the comm.

+++

Asajj was just as relieved to finally sit up as Ahsoka was glad to see it happen. 

"My brat of a padawan, we are going to have words about boundaries and not biting off more than you can handle, do you hear me?" Asajj growled at the Togruta.

The padawan smiled, bright and vivid, knowing that everything had to be better now; her master was snarly again.

Asajj could only sigh, before she cooperated with Krieth for an exam, knowing that she would go to any lengths to protect Ahsoka from such pain ever again.

Somehow, she knew that was a two-way street, much as it had always been between her and Ky.

Maybe now, though, it wouldn't be shaped under threat of war, and they could all focus on a better future.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you, every one, for the comments and support, for the kudos and bookmarks.


End file.
